The Cult Info

- The origins of the band can be traced back to 1981, in Bradford, Yorkshire, where vocalist and songwriter Ian Astbury formed a band called Southern Death Cult-The band were at the forefront of a new emerging style of music, in the form of post-punk and gothic rock- In April 1983, Astbury teamed up with guitarist Billy Duffy and formed the band "Death Cult"- Death Cult made their live debut in Oslo, Norway on July 25, 1983 and also released the 'Death Cult' EP in the same month- To tone down the gothic connotations of their name, and to gain broader appeal, the band changed its name to "The Cult" in January 1984- Their debut album 'Dreamtime' was released on September 10, 1984, it reached #21 in the UK. The first single, "Spiritwalker", reached #1 on the UK Indie Chart- The Cult recorded their second album, 'Love' in July and August 1985- 'Love' was released on October 18, 1985 on Beggars Banquet Records- The band booked themselves into the Manor Studios in Oxfordshire, with producer Steve Brown (who had produced Love), and recorded over a dozen new songs. The band were unhappy with the sound of their new album, titled 'Peace', and they decided to go to New York so that producer Rick Rubin could remix the first single, "Love Removal Machine"- Rubin agreed to work with the band, but only if they rerecorded the song. Rubin eventually talked them into rerecording the entire album- Renamed as 'Electric', the album was released on April 6, 1987- In the US, The Cult, now consisting of Astbury, Duffy, Stewart, Warner and Kid Chaos, were supported by the then unknown Guns N' Roses- At the end of the tour the 'Electric' album had sold roughly 3 million copies worldwide- The band were barely speaking to each other and Haggis left the band at the end of the Electric tour to form The Four Horsemen for Rubin's Def American label- Astbury and Duffy fired Warner and moved to Los Angeles with original bassist Stewart- Produced by Bob Rock and recorded in Vancouver, Canada, 'Sonic Temple' was released on April 10, 1989- The band went on tour in support of the new album and new single "Fire Woman", with new drummer, Matt Sorum- They spent 1989 touring in support of Metallica before heading out on their own headlining tour later that same year- In 1990, the band were on the verge of splitting due to Stewart retiring and moving to Canada, and Sorum leaving to join Guns N' Roses- In 1991, director Oliver Stone offered Astbury the role of Jim Morrison in Stone's film 'The Doors'. He declined the role because he was not happy with the way Morrison was represented in the film- 'Ceremony' was released in September 1991. Astbury and Duffy's working relationship was at an all-time low at this point, with the two reportedly rarely in the studio together, opting to record their parts individually- With the same line-up still in place, the band released 'The Cult' in October 1994, produced by Bob Rock- Astbury referred to the record as "very personal and very revealing" songs about his life- During the 'Black Rain' tour of South America in spring of 1995, despite the fact that several more new songs had already been recorded, the tour was cancelled and the band split up- In 1999, Astbury and Duffy reformed The Cult with Matt Sorum and ex-Porno for Pyros bassist Martyn LeNoble. Their first official concert was at the Tibetan Freedom Concert in June- The band's 1999 'Cult Rising' reunion tour resulted in a sold out 30 date tour of the US, ending with 8 consecutive sold out nights at the LA House of Blues- In 2000, the band contributed the song "Painted on My Heart" to the soundtrack of the movie 'Gone In 60 Seconds'